Make Roundtable the Place to Be—Get the Scoop

When I was a district commissioner and the lead person for creating a monthly roundtable where leaders wanted to be, I felt I needed a marketing campaign so leaders would know what they would get from roundtable and when it was. I am a collector of useful stuff, so when the little scoops came out in laundry detergent I thought they would be useful for something. And when I was deciding on my marketing campaign for roundtable, they came to mind. I took those little scoops, attached a small card that said, “Get the Scoop,” with the date, time, and place where the monthly roundtables were held, and attached it all to a string that hung around the neck. I distributed one to each unit in my district, either myself or via the commissioner staff. I brought a big 5-gallon pail of trail mix that sat at the back of the room (really the entrance to the room), and leaders brought their scoop with them and scooped up some trail mix to munch on while we had our opening general session. New leaders got scoops at the roundtable for them to use as a reminder to come each month or to invite fellow leaders to join them.

Soon our attendance soared. I also noticed many of my little scoops were now rearview mirror ornaments.

Of course, our roundtables had to offer something for everyone to keep them coming back, and our roundtable commissioner staff did just that. They were trained and really put on a good show.